If only President Trump would stop responding to allegations that he colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election, the liberal media would stop covering the topic. That was the assertion made by NBC’s Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie during an interview with White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday’s morning show.
After being interrogated about the Russia investigation for nearly the entire segment, Sanders pushed back: “Frankly, I think the people that are frustrated most isn’t the President, it’s the American people. They’re sick and tired of being inundated with Russia fever. They’re ready for the media and the rest of the country to be able to solely focused on how to move us forward.”
Guthrie lectured: “Would you agree, though, that had the President not fired Director Comey, there wouldn’t be a Special Counsel and a special investigation and an obstruction of justice investigation that centers around him? I mean, didn’t his own actions bring this upon himself?”
Sanders reiterated: “We’re ready to move on. I know the country is ready to move on....Imagine how many more good things for the country we would have been able to do this past year if everybody hadn’t been so focused on this Russia hoax.”
Guthrie acknowledged: “That’s true.” However, she then claimed: “...you have to say, I mean, the press focuses on it, but that’s because the President’s focused on it and tweeting about it.”
Here were the series of other Russia questions Guthrie put to Sanders during the January 30 exchange:
> As you well know, the Deputy Director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe, abruptly resigned yesterday, earlier than expected. The President has made no secret of the fact that he does not care for Andrew McCabe. You said that he was’'t part of the decision process. Was he happy to see Andrew McCabe go?
> And back to the Russia investigation for just a moment, because let’s go big picture. Here’s what I don’t quite understand. The President has said there’s no collusion, there’s nothing wrong there, there’s nothing to see here. And yet, one by one, he’s gone after every single one of the Justice Department officials who was connected to this, whether it’s his own Attorney General, whether it’s the former Director of the FBI James Comey, who he fired, whether it’s Andrew McCabe, the Deputy Director of the FBI, even saying he would fire Director Mueller.
If there’s nothing to see here and he’s innocent why does he go after all of the Justice Department officials connected to the Russia investigation? Doesn’t it, at a minimum, look bad?
> But he has gone after every single person at the top of this investigation, including the Attorney General he appointed. So I guess the question is, if there’s nothing to see here and he wants to cooperate, why does he continually go after people who are connected to the investigation and just trying to do the investigation? I mean, doesn’t that make it look like he has something to hide?
While Sanders was actually on the broadcast to promote the President’s upcoming State of the Union address, Guthrie only managed to ask one question on that subject:
Let’s talk about the State of the Union address. We’ll pick it up right where Kristen [Welker] left off. The President is coming into his first State of the Union with a rip-roaring economy, low unemployment, the wind at his back in terms of the economy. And yet, his own personal approval ratings are at record lows. Does he look at this as an opportunity to kind of build that back up, to try to unite the country? What will he say?
Clearly NBC does not want any speech getting in the way of the Trump-Russia collusion narrative.
